I worked retail for a bit in high school. I tried to check card vs ID name for about a week before the manager told me to cut that shit out - too many wives, kids, etc using "dad's" card (this was 1994, so it was almost exclusively dad's card - I imagine that's changed in the last 30 years).

Requiring additional ID for low-value credit card transactions is not necessarily good security from a customer standpoint, as it increases exposure to identity theft by store employees to reduce the relatively minor risk of small, easily reversible fraudulent transactions.

Is a card present transaction generally "easily reversible"?

At least in my experience the "name on the machine" back then was just read from the magstripe - I had access to a track 3 writer and had some fun copying my credit card info onto my driver license and swiping that.

> the "name on the machine" back then was just read from the magstripe.

It is (or was last time I played with card readers). But a person would sometimes use a stolen card with their name on the physical card so it matched their ID.

I guess people weren't updating it digitally? Maybe it was easier to just clone a card onto a card you already have?